Pakistan Food Security lies in I.C. Water Management

Pakistan is facing many serious issues of water shortage, huge water wastage due to obsolete Canal irrigation system that needs Integrated Comprehensive Water Management of the total flow in Pakistan to save huge quantity of water. The country faces power shortage, rapid silting of reservoirs, salinity and sodicity of irrigated lands, flood devastation, lack of surface and sub-surface tile drainage system to control salinity, and the encroachment on natural drains by the people blocking their waterways. Pakistan is faced with food insecurity, climate change, India violating Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) by stopping Rabi supplies by building 32 dams, and building another 13 dams for Afghanistan on Kabul River. India will deprive Pakistan of its 38 maf of Rabi water requirements from the Western Rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). It will subject Pakistan to famine by creating food insecurity.

Gone are the days when battles were fought for territories to build empires. Now wars are imposed, destruction wrought, to control sources of energy and minerals. And, in the near future war will become inevitable to protect or take-over water resources. South Asia is rated  likely theater for such violent conflicts.

Water security conference at LUMS, Lahore was of the views that Pakistan and India needed to worry more about their scarce water resource than about Kashmir and terrorism. Water resource is much more serious issue and will touch the lives of the entire population of both countries.

The UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia has placed Pakistan among the “water hot spots” of the region as the country is facing major threat of increasing water scarcity, deteriorating water quality, Climate change risk, and India stopping Rabi supplies of about 38 maf from the Western Rivers allocated to Pakistan.

Senator John Kerry report to US Senate

Senator John Kerry reported to US Senate “that India has acquired the ability to store enough water to limit the supply of water to Pakistan at critical moment in the growing season”. It is estimated that India has created about 40 maf of storage from its 32 number of dams and still more dams are under construction. The capability to limit the supply of water at critical times of growing Rabi crops, mean to turn the Indus basin canal irrigation system, the largest in the world, non-perennial. This means to create hunger and famine in Pakistan which means India will use water as a weapon of mass destruction. This obviously shows India has equipped itself for a silent water war. In such a situation, Pakistan has to take some action to avoid famine.

Gone are the days of conventional wars. Pakistan will have no option except waging a nuclear war that may lead to world war III. This may reduce and destroy earth’s atmosphere, creating super climate change by radiation. All nations on earth will suffer. The solution to this issue lies that occupied Kashmir, the source of waters for Pakistan should be handed over to Pakistan by giving freedom to Kashmiris. The UN failed to implement its resolution on Kashmir.

Pakistan now faces a big challenge how to manage water resources? The best, permanent and honorable solution is to hand over Kashmir to Kashmiris if justice and wisdom prevails in India. The second solution is to carryout Integrated Comprehensive Water Management for that India must contribute at least 50 per cent cost of all works like in case of Tarbela construction. India in violation of the IWT, created about 40 maf of storage. The Treaty only allows India to produce hydropower and can only store 4.19 maf of water. India should not deprive Pakistan of its Rabi supplies of about 38 maf. India should not limit the supply of water at critical moment in the growing season as reported by John Kerry. India should rather get wisdom from John Kerry report. India should only retain 4.19 maf of water as provided in the treaty. And, the third option is nuclear war when India and Pakistan both will be annihilated and the land and water becoming radioactive. This must be avoided and lesson learned from Hiroshima and Nagasaki destruction where mini hydrogen bombs were used.

The dire need is to control super floods by building Katzarah Dam, Guroh Dop Dam, and Raised barrage at the end of the Indus River valley, and Mirkhani Dam as part of water management. These dams will mitigate climate change, and make available water and hydropower. We should harvest rainwater all over the country, store melting glacier water, control rapid silting of reservoirs, control salinity and sodicity of soil as 15 million acres of fertile land has been devoured by salinity. Each year about 10,000 acres of land is lost to salinity each year.

Moreover, about one million small tube wells installed by farmers inject about 350 million tons of injurious salts from the groundwater drainage effluent. This is a very serious practice causing rapid salinity specially when there is no sub-surface tile drainage to eradicate and control salinity and maintain salt and water balance. Salinity can easily be eradicated and controlled by surface and sub-surface tile drainage that is missing. WAPDA two mega projects, namely SCARPs and NDP, badly failed for adopting wrong project concept. After this, WAPDA abandoned to provide drainage scheme to eradicate and control salinity.

We must modernize the 150 years old, highly wasteful, incompatible, and obsolete canal irrigation system. All these are the components of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management. Water is now becoming more precious than oil.

The irony of fate is that nobody knows the correct technical definition of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management while implementing it. Similarly, nobody knows the correct technical definition of Irrigation, drainage and leaching. For this reason all mega projects conceived, planned and executed by WAPDA failed. The survival of irrigated agriculture and food security depend on the implementation of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management (ICWM). I would therefore, give the definition of I.C. Water Management so that all mega projects for Water Management are executed according to the technical definitions.

Definition of I.C. Water Management.

“Water Management is defined as the combined processes of storage, diversion, conveyance, regulation, measurement, distribution and application of the rational amount of water at proper times and removal of excess water from the farms to promote increased production economically, in conjunction with improvement of agricultural practice and institutional arrangement”.

Let everyone understand this definition and follow it. The 150 years old, highly wasteful, incompatible and obsolete canal irrigation system needs modernization to meet crop water requirements in time and in proper dozes. The obsolete canal irrigation system is wasting 45 to 50 maf of water each year that must be modernized to save this huge quantity of water equal to 8 times the storage of Basha Dam or Kalabagh Dam. The modernization of canal system is necessary because of the climate change and India holding 40 maf of water in 32 dams built in occupied Kashmir. The violation of IWT will enable India, not to allow a drop of water for Rabi crops at the critical moment in the growing season as reported by John Kerry.     

From the definition of ICWM, it is apparent that Water Management is the combined process of many components and the use of water at proper time, in proper dozes and the removal of excess water by sub-surface tile drainage. Storage dams, surface and sub-surface tile drainage, and efficient network of irrigation system are the major components of ICWM. The canal system has become obsolete as revolutionary changes in cropping pattern and cropping intensity has taken place from the originally conceived Kharif Rabi ratio that equated crop water requirements of Rabi with Kharif for the canal design for getting a fixed and constant discharge. This fixed and constant canal discharge was needed to meet Lacy’s design requirements for regime flow conditions of non-silting and non-scouring. Modern irrigated agriculture does not require a fixed and constant canal discharge but a varying discharge to meet crop water requirements on the basis of consumptive use of water for higher intensity of irrigation and cropping pattern. A fixed discharge is incompatible with agricultural crop water requirements. It is either short or excessive and wasteful. Both are undesirable.

The Indus basin canal irrigation system has the capacity to carry 105 maf of water. Out of this, 50 maf of water is lost due to seepage, incompatibility of canal system, poor maintenance, evaporation, and wastage of water from one million miles of water courses. This wastage is equal to 8 times the storage of Basha Dam or Kalabagh Dam. The major source of wastage of water is the water courses. These need to be replaced by pipe supply to avoid wastage due to seepage, evaporation and theft.

The US Government was addressing issues including climate, health, water and food security at Global level and the dialogue was focused on water issue. As such, Maria Otero Us under Secretary said: US will support Pakistan to improve Irrigation system and carry out water conservation to overcome water scarcity. The Us Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also committed to help Pakistan solve water issues. She offered cooperation in water data collection procedure. About two-third of world’s population would have to face water stress by 2025. In view it, Pakistan must arrange to carry out ICWM to save huge quantity of water as early as possible.

Moreover, India holding 38 maf of the Rabi supplies to Pakistan will subject it to famine, hunger and bloody revolution. It may lead to war with India for holding its Rabi supplies, using water as a weapon of mass destruction. Not only this, India has planned to build 13 dams on Kabul River for Afghanistan storing about 20 per cent of the total flow of Kabul River and stopping Rabi crop water requirements to Pakistan.

UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia observed that Pakistan is among the “water hot spot” of the region due to acute water scarcity, deteriorating water quality, and climate change risk. It is observed that glaciers are fast receding. It is estimated that in the next about 50 years, water flows in the Indus River would fast increase by about 60 per cent and then reduced to half. The only remedy to face this calamitous situation is to adopt measures to ensure the implementation of ICWM in true professional sense with all its components. This is the requirement for the survival of irrigated agriculture and food security for Pakistan.

After the construction of Katzarah,Dam, Basha Dam, Guroh Dop Dam, Mirkhani Dam and the raised-barrage-cum-dam the flow in the Indus River will reduce to a stream. Then, it will become easy to channelize the Indus River bed, reducing its 14 miles waterway to only about one mile or so. Huge land will be reclaimed on both banks of the Indus River and water losses will considerably reduce.  

Kirsty Jenkinson of world resources institute Washington said “Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population growth. Water is badly needed to produce food, fuel and fiber.

Use of Sprinkler and Drip Irrigation Methods

It has become necessary to change the traditional, wasteful method of irrigating lands by flooding method. It should gradually be replaced by Sprinkler and Drip irrigation method. It will save water that will irrigate more than two times the area irrigated by flooding method.

Land development under Gomal Dam on modern lines by adopting  ICWM

I strongly recommend irrigating the area under Gomal Zam Dam by Sprinkler and Drip irrigation methods, avoiding flood irrigation method. This practice must be followed in all new irrigation schemes especially where silt free storage water is used. Water by flood irrigation should therefore not be wasted as Sprinkler irrigation covers two times more area. It is suggested that the entire command area of Gomal Dam be leased out for rapid development on modern lines adopting ICWM measures, in partnership with the land owners, foreign investors/governments, specially the Arabs, and the government of Pakistan for a period of 40 years or so. I suggest this proposal because the land owners are very poor. They will not be able to develop their lands quickly on modern lines for years. On the contrary, the reservoir will silt every year, as no water shed management measures are adopted in the catchment area. Moreover, Gomal is a heavy silt carrying river.

ICWM to implement Water Accord and make IWT operative by creating storage.         

The Water Accord is not implemented even after 20 years to meet its water requirements of about 22 maf.  The Indus Waters Treaty has ceased to operate due to silting of Tarbela and Mangla Reservoirs by about 7.0 maf. It needs the implementation of ICWM to meet the water requirements of Water Accord and of the Indus Waters Treaty. The ICWM is the spinal chord of irrigated agriculture to produce food as well as achieve food security.

Thanks to John Kerry.

It has been observed that the United State knows more of our problems than we know our problems.  Pakistan must be thankful to John Kerry to reveal the fact that “India has acquired the ability to store enough water to limit the supply of water to Pakistan at critical moment in the growing season”. Analyzing John Kerry report, India acquiring ability to store enough water means India must have created about 40 maf of storage water, blocking Pakistan water requirements of 38 maf by building 32 dams. This is in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty, as India is allowed only 4.19 maf of water. The report confirms that India will hold Rabi supplies of water during the critical moment in the Rabi crop growing season”. Pakistan water requirements for Rabi season are about 38 maf. This means India will not allow a drop of water flow down to Pakistan at critical moment in the Rabi growing season. This undeclared water war will turn the irrigation system of Pakistan non-perennial. This will mutilate irrigated agriculture and create famine in Pakistan, as India will use water, as a weapon of mass destruction. Pakistan should go to International Court of Justice, to the Security Council, and to U.N. with the report of John Kerry, that India has violated the Indus Waters Treaty by creating 40 maf of storage. It is shocking that Pakistan’s organizations, the commissioner Water, and the Government of Pakistan remained unaware through-out 40 years of dam building by India on rivers allocated to us under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Why Pakistan has not raised this vital issue is not understood. The fact is that the whole problem and the core of issues between India and Pakistan lie in the forcible occupation of Kashmir by India. In fact, all this is due to intentionally wrong partition, sowing the seed of conflicts. Why not remove it, and the two countries create conditions as between USA and Canada. 

Copy to

The President of Pakistan, President House, Islamabad. I may bring it to your notice the facts about multiple water issues created by ignoring water and power resources development.

The matter of food security under the circumstances as explained above is far more serious than load shedding, and terrorism. Famine may lead to bloody revolution. It may lead to war with India as India has built 32 dams in occupied Kashmir on rivers allocated to Pakistan, blocking our water requirements of 38 maf as reported by John Kerry, by storing about 40 maf of Rabi season flows to Pakistan violating the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan strangely remained ignorant. India will use water as weapon of mass destruction by waging silent water war. India has planned to build 13 dams on Kabul River in Afghanistan to stop more than 20 per cent of Kabul River flow to Pakistan. Nobody is paying attention to the serious issues of water and power shortage. It seems Government does not exist. The implementation of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management is the only solution to remove water and power shortage.

Is it not surprising that the second dam on the Indus after Tarbela will be built after (37+10)=47 years?. Are you informed that Tarbela and Mangla Reservoirs are silted up by 7.0 maf? Do you know The Indus Waters Treaty has become un-operative due to silting of Tarbela Reservoir by 5 maf? Do you know Water Accord is not yet implemented even after 20 years? Water Accord requires 22 maf of storage water, to implement its paras 2, 4. 6. (14e,) otherwise dispute between the provinces would continue.

Are you informed that Katzarah Dam on the Indus River is the tallest and narrowest dam in the world with storage capacity of 35 maf, six times larger than Basha Dam, with power potential to generate 15,000 MW of hydropower. This spectacular dam site is ignored by WAPDA due to conspiracy? Please be informed that there are no mega storage dam sites on Kabul River, Jehlum River and Chenab River in Pakistan. Kalabagh and Akhori dams both are technically infeasible. Bunji Dam, Dassu Dam on the Indus are power dams. Similarly Munda Dam is also power Dam. It is only the Katzarah Dam that can meet all the water and power requirements of Pakistan, besides controlling floods and silt flow.

Guroh Dop Dam is another multipurpose, mega dam with storage capacity of 8.5 maf, with power generation of about 700 MW. It will also store 4.0 maf of flood water of Chitral River  by diverting Chitral River water through a tunnel into Guroh Dop Reservoir after building Mirkhani Dam on Chitral River. This dam is necessary as India will store Kabul River flow to Pakistan by building 13 dams on Kabul River. Katzarah would increase the life of Basha Dam from its estimated life of 80 years to 800 years by stopping silt flow from the highly erodible soil of Skardu valley. The raised barrage-cum dam is another vital and ideal project at the end of the Indus River valley that will produce 2000 MW to 6000 MW of power on the run of the river, storing 3.4 maf of water that would repeatedly be filled. The unique feature of this project is that it does not require land acquisition, and land compensation. It does not involve population displacement. It is an ideal substitute for Kalabagh Dam.

Is it not surprising that no steps are taken to protect against devastating floods as of 2010, destroying 22 percent of Pakistan? Such floods can be repeated again and again due to climate change. No remedial measures are taken to control silt in the Indus River water to avoid rapid silting of reservoirs. No sub-surface tile drainage is provided to control salinity and sodicity in the Indus basin. The lands are becoming infertile invisibly and gradually. The waterways of all the natural drains are blocked due to encroachments in violation of the Canal and drainage Act of 1887. This has destroyed Sindh due to rainwater standing. Sindh has become the drainage bowl of the country as there are no infrastructures to drain off rainwater.

Copies to   

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Prime Minister House Islamabad

The Minister for Water and Power, Ministry of Water and Power, Islamabad

The Secretary Water and Power, Ministry of Water and Power, Islamabad.

Advisor on Water in the Ministry of Water and Power, Islamabad.

The Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad.

Please take necessary action to develop water and power resources and solve all water and power issues as mentioned above. I have informed the Government not once but at least 80 times since 1960 by sending proposals and writing letters to develop the natural resources of the country. Pakistan is rich in these resources. It is the Governance failure not to develop these resources.  No one even acknowledges the letters I sent them. I do not know what other steps should I take to awake the sleeping authorities except requesting the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo moto action directing the Government to implement Article 38 (a), (b), (d) of the Constitution that is violated.

Copy to

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad.

Request for suo moto action for violation of Article 38 (a) (b) (d) of the Constitution since 1974 by the Government organizations

For creating the above water and power issues due to continued negligence, I only feel that it is the Supreme Court of Pakistan that can give relief by awakening the inert government. It is surprising that none of the organizations performed their duties to the country and did not care for the well-fare of the people by developing land, water, and power resources, the people of Pakistan are facing hunger and death, flood devastation, load shedding and no jobs, therefore, I approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan under great compulsion for suo moto action, why Government failed not to develop these huge natural land, water and power resources which are in abundance. The Government failed not to build multipurpose dams in time, and no water management is done to save wastage of water, it therefore resulted in floods, water wastage, water shortage, food insecurity and load shedding causing billions of dollars loss. Salinity has already devoured 15 million acres of land, and is devouring 10,000 acres of land each year for lack of sub-surface tile drainage. WAPDA drainage projects of SCARPs and NDP planned on wrong lines failed twice.

The people are suffering miseries on these accounts. Instances are that the people are compelled to sell their children and commit suicide.  The State is responsible for creating this ugly situation. It is surprising no dam is built on the Indus for (37+10 for Basha) = 47 years after Tarbela. Basha will take 10 years to build. The lack of responsibility may lead to hunger, and death, may incite bloody revolution. I humbly request the Supreme Court to direct the government to break the 47 years long status quo for not developing Water Resources of Pakistan that are criminally wasted, creating food insecurity. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is requested to suggest some law or binding on the Government not to ignore required developments and avoid crisis of these nature.  

Article 38 (a) (b) and (d), of the Constitution is violated for failing to secure the well-being of the people, provide facilities for work and adequate livelihood to meet the basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing, education and medical relief. Failure on the part of respective Governments since 1974 created awful situation. They ignored Constitutional provision to protect the life of the people from the incoming hunger, causing death, and floods devastation besides load shedding. The motto for Roti, Kapra our makan is met by hunger, clothes-less and shelter-less.